11

Analyse, Communicate and Re-engage

Ad-blockersBlocking more than ads

22

Blunt instruments not precise weapons

2

Ad-blockers have often been referred to as blunt instruments in that they don’t distinguish between poor or quality advertising by simply blocking all kinds of ads. However a more troubling aspect of adblocking as blunt instruments is that there are many cases where adblockers not only block ads but block other web content such as HTML, CSS and Javascript which is not advertising - The effects of this on certain publisher websites varies from small issues to problems which can render the site non functional for its users even where advertising on does not exist.

Not all ad-blocking software is equal.Whilst the most popular forms of ad-blocking exist for desktop based web browsers in the form of 3rd party plugins which are installed by a few clicks, not all of the ad-blocking software uses the same set of filters to remove web content such as advertising.

Lists at the heart of ad-blocking functionalityAt the heart of an adblockers ability to block content such as advertising are files known as Filter Lists. These filter lists are like a database for the adblocker to check against in order to determine what requests made by the browser will be blocked. All ad-blocking software use some kind of filter lists.

The most popular and used filter list - Easy ListThe EasyList subscriptions are lists of filters designed for Adblock Plus but also used by many adblockers that automatically remove unwanted content from the internet, including annoying adverts, bothersome banners and troublesome tracking. The subscriptions are currently maintained by four authors, Fanboy, MonztA, Famlam and Khrin, who are ably assisted by an ample forum community.

33

EasyPrivacy - Where the damage gets done.

3

The next most popular filter list used by adblockers is EasyPrivacy list.

“EasyPrivacy is an optional supplementary subscription that completely removes all forms of tracking from the internet, including web bugs, tracking scripts and information collectors,

thereby protecting your personal data.”

Source: https://easylist.adblockplus.org/en/

EasyPrivacy is supported by Adblock Plus, Adblock and many other adblocking software applications. *Active by default in UBlock Origin

AdBlock

44

Checking in for your British Airways flight online is pretty straight forward

and creates no issues when you have no ad-blocker installed.

4

www.britishairways.comwithout adblock

You can’tcheck-in

online

55

However, when an ad-blocker is installed the ability to tick the

acceptance of terms and conditions is removed therefore you cannot proceed

and check-in. Of course the BA site thinks you have not accepted the T&C’

s and presents an error As shown in the image below

5

www.britishairways.comwith adblock

You can’tcheck-in

online

66

Vodafone UK offer it’s users with a useful tool to track the progress of their orders. Simply enter your order details

and find out where it is

Brokenorder

tracking

6

www.vodafone.co.uk without adblock

77

With an adblocker and easy privacy list the software used by Vodafone to track the order is completely blocked by easy

privacy list

Brokenorder

tracking

7

www.vodafone.co.uk with adblock

88

A look at www.bp.com on the homepage shows a video on its new

“Dirt-busting ACTIVE technology”The video which is part of the content

does not intrude or auto play.

Blocked native video

8

www.bp.com without adblock

99

With an adblocker using EasyPrivacy, the native video player is blocked and

simply server a black blank space where the video should be with no

obvious warning or error to the user

Blocked native video

9

www.bp.comwith adblock

1010

When arriving for the first time on the Liverpool FC homepage fans are

normally presented with the latest special offer. In this case a 2015/16

away shirt offer.

10

www.liverpoolfc.comwithout adblock

Liverpool fanslose their

shirt

1111

With an adblocker and easy privacy list installed fans no longer get the chance to see the latest special offers from the

club

11

www.liverpoolfc.com with adblock

Liverpool fanslose their

shirt

1212

Umbro provide a wonderful blog of reviews on their products including

video, narrative along with highly professional photography and the

ability for their visitors to comment on each of the blogs

12

www.umbro.comwithout adblock

Umbrolose their

boots

1313

With an adblocker using EasyPrivacy list, the blog is completely trashed, with videos and images blocked along with the ability for any such user to provide feedback or comments on the blog. It

looks like there is no further information available

13

www.umbro.com with adblock

Umbrolose their

boots

1414

Looking to improve their service for visitors, O2 ask users if they would fill

out a short survey after visiting their site

14

www.o2.com without adblock

You can’thave your

say

1515

With adblocker and easyprivacy list all surveys provided by the survey

company edigitalsurvey.com are blocked. You simply never know there

was a survey option

15

www.o2.com with adblock

You can’thave your

say

1616

And it’s not just O2 who fail to present the option of a survey to all their users.

The entire portfolio of sites using edigitalsurvey.com by well known UK

outlets are blocked

16

www.edigitalsurvey.com Other sites blocked with adblock

You can’thave your

say

1717

The Cookie Law is a piece of privacy legislation that requires websites to get

consent from visitors to store or retrieve any information on a computer,

smartphone or tablet

Procter & Gamble product websites have taken care to provide such notices with additional consumer

options relating to cookies

17

www.ariel.co.uk Without ad-blocker

Cleaning and washing

cookienotices

1818

However the cookie notice bar used by many Procter & Gamble UK product

websites are blocked to all ad-blockers with EasyPrivacy list active

18

www.pg.com With ad-blocker

Cleaning and washing

cookienotices

1919

Social sharing is an important part of spreading the word and driving interest

to your website. Landrover like many of the top UK websites use a piece of software called addthis.com to make sharing easy and available accross a

wide range of social platforms

19

www.landrover.co.uk with adblock

You can’tshare

this

2020

Unfortunately the software utility used by Land Rover and many others is

called Addthis is blocked and therefore the sharing options do not render for

the user to see and share.

20

www.landrover.co.uk with adblock

You can’tshare

this

2121

Those were examples of what you see

21

The previous slides show visual examples of what ad-blocking can break beyond advertising and if a website is meticulously compared with and without an adblocker installed it is possible to see what gets broken. This task is time consuming and and tedious and no simple ready made solution is currently available to automatically make these tests and comparisons. However, in addition to what you see many ad-blocking software applications also block / break other critical components of a publisher's website such as analytics, site optimisation applications, performance measurement

Below are just some examples of what is blocked by Easy Privacy List and is not something obvious to see.

Analyse, Communicate, Engage

Visit us to find out how adblocking affects you

https://oriel.io/or follow us on Twitter

@oriel_hqFurther information:

Aidan Joyce - CEO - aidan@oriel.io

Oliver Meister - Legal & Finance - oliver@oriel.io22